United Way reaches $2M of 2012 $2.8M campaign goal

The United Way of the Lowcountry Board of Directors announced gifts and pledges totaling $2,006,493, which is 71.6 percent of the organization’s 2012 goal of $2.8 million.

With the holidays in full swing and the season of giving underway, United Way leaders encourage helping others.

From 2-6 p.m. Friday, J Banks Retail Store in Hilton Head offers all shoppers 25 percent off purchases. The 10 percent of the store’s total sales that day will be donated back to United Way of the Lowcountry.

In October, volunteer reading tutors began working in eight Lowcountry schools. The goal is to ensure that students are reading at grade level when they enter fourth-grade. It ties to the long-term goal to reduce dropouts by 50 percent within 10 years in all Beaufort County and Jasper high schools.

To learn more about United Way of the Lowcountry and its work to make the community a better place, call 982-3040 or go to www.uwlowcountry.org.